


Dear Brother

by GoldenEyedShinah



Category: Tales of Berseria, Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Angst, Family, Family Feels, Goodbyes, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-06 01:05:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12806223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenEyedShinah/pseuds/GoldenEyedShinah
Summary: Edna writes a long overdue letter to Eizen





	Dear Brother

**Author's Note:**

> This is for my lovely friend Propinkist's birthday <3 Why does everything I write for you turn out sad? Who knows, but this one does not break the cycle

_Dear Brother,_

_Here it is. My goodbye._

Edna looks to the endless sea. Her face is a mask. She twirls her umbrella slowly, her brother’s gift swinging with the movement.

Somewhere out there, Eizen is sailing with his crew. If Edna closes her eyes, she can almost imagine him at the helm of a beautiful ship, the raucous voices of a crew who cannot see him surrounding him.

She doesn’t close her eyes. Her hands tighten on her umbrella, a sick feeling deep in her stomach.

_I didn’t say it before because I knew it would hurt you._

The next time she sees him is near the end. She knows it because the malevolence around him is heavy, visible as dark purple tendrils that wreathe around his gaunt body.

He’s nothing like she remembers. New clothes, new scars, and new pain that makes his eyes murky, dark.

It’s enough to make her pause, but not for long. She runs forward, throws her arms around his middle. The sting of malevolence is not nearly enough to make her stop. She knows the danger. She can’t bring herself to care.

But the malevolence only stings. It doesn’t coat her, or weigh her down like she expects it to.

Her brother’s arms wrap around her; that’s one thing that hasn’t changed. She still feels safe with him.

Edna looks up at him, and smiles, which makes her look much younger. “Welcome home, brother.”

Despite the malevolence and the weariness in his eyes, when Eizen smiles it’s as if he’s only been gone for the day. Edna ignores the bags under his eyes. She leads him back home, supporting him when he stumbles and talking more than she ever did in the last 800 plus years.

_There’s a lot of things I didn’t say._

Eizen tells her about the Van Eltia. His eyes light up as he describes fantastic adventures to her, telling her of the Lord of Calamity and Van Aifread in more detail; his passion makes the malevolence around him fade a little. Edna plays her part, gasping at the exciting parts and making snide comments here and there.

She wants to tell him that all this time she’s been waiting. People have come and gone, but she’s stayed.

She says nothing of it. She cooks for them and listens to his stories far into the night. Eizen exhausts himself and falls asleep next to her. He’s said nothing about his condition, or his homecoming, or the knowledge weighing on both of them: that he will leave again. And he’ll never return.

_You hurt me, brother._

Eizen finishes telling her about his journeys. And then, he says something Edna will never forget:

“Aifread’s pirates have finally disbanded.”

The pain in his eyes tells her more than he will ever say about it.

Is that the only reason you came back? Edna wants to ask. Would you still be with them if they were still together?

What about me? I’ve wanted to see you for so long. Did you not feel the same?

She sets about making them lunch. Her hands tremble, but she plays the perfect, doting sister, like she’s not breaking inside at the sight of him so run down. She distracts him with stories of stupid humans, and he laughs, and for a time she can imagine that everything is normal.

All things have to end.

_I never cared if you brought bad luck. I would’ve gone through it all just to be with you. I can never forgive you for leaving me._

_I know that’s selfish. I’ve spent too long being selfless for you._

Eizen doesn’t say goodbye. He hugs her and murmurs that he loves her. But he doesn’t say goodbye.

Neither does Edna.

_I should’ve told you to stay._

Edna screams when she sees him again.

_I thought I could save you, Brother. You just had to go and turn yourself into a dragon. And I thought, for once, I could help you. Once I saved you, I could tell you how stupid you were. You’d apologize. And finally we could say everything we’ve been holding back._

_How stupid._

Zaveid doesn’t know who he’s dealing with. Edna beats him down, over and over. He returns with that stupid gun of his and a grin that makes no sense. Talking of promises and friends and pain.

What about _her_ pain? Did no one care about that?

_I deluded myself until the very end. I’m sorry for that, Brother. I should’ve given you peace sooner._

_I’m sorry I didn’t say I love you._

She watches Sorey try _so hard_ to find a way. She watches him despair as the answer becomes increasingly obvious.

Somehow, it doesn’t surprise her. Of course it doesn’t.

_I was selfish. I should’ve told you everything long ago._

“Wait, what about our promise?”

Even as she says it, Edna knows it’s the only way. But still she feels betrayed, and it’s not even by Sorey. She says the words for Eizen. Maybe he can hear. 

What about all the things a brother is supposed to promise his little sister?

_So here I am, saying it. I love you, Brother. You hurt me, but I love you, and I miss you._

_I wish you hadn’t left. I wish we’d gone through this together. But I’m glad I finally had the courage to give you rest._

_You don’t have to worry about me. I have friends. A family. They’re all idiots, but they’re my idiots. I think you would’ve liked Sorey. I know he would’ve liked you._

_He’s sorry, by the way. That he couldn’t save you. I told him he did. I told him thank you._

_So I’m not alone. Not anymore. We’re going after the Lord of Calamity. We’re going to save the world._

_How stupid._

Edna’s fingers brush against the gravestone she summoned. It’s simple. Maybe Eizen would have wanted it taller. She was never one for such extravagance. The flowers at the base are ones he should recognize, at least.

“So I’ll always be near,” she says as she places them nearby. She can almost feel Eizen’s hand on her shoulder, and she smiles even as she cries.

The others are all standing behind her, giving her privacy. Edna stands, and turns away, and leaves them to talk about her grief. She knows they’ll come after her. She walks the mountain and thinks she finally feels a blessing falling over the place.

_I hope I can see you again, someday. But until then, you don’t have to worry about me. Not anymore. Because I’ll keep living._

_One of my friends once said: “Keep moving forward.”_

_I think I will. I’ve stayed in one place for far too long. Maybe it’s finally time to find my own adventure._

_I hope I can make you proud._

When Sorey disappears, she doesn’t wait. She knows, somehow, that he’ll be back, that he won’t be gone forever. She doesn’t know how to express this, so she doesn’t. She parts with the rest of her family knowing that, unlike her Brother, she’ll return to them again and again. Zaveid joins her. Together, they visit the mountain one last time.

And then, she leaves with him. He knows the world far better than her, and perhaps he’ll be able to show her things that her Brother so loved to talk about. On their way out, they pass Aifread’s Hunting Grounds. She lingers there, just for a moment.

_Goodbye, Brother. Thank you for giving my name to me, for being my family. I hope you’re finally at peace._

_We’ll see each other again; I’m sure of it now._

_With love,_

_Edna_  


A letter catches on the wind and floats out to sea. The wind will play with it for a little while, but then the sea will claim it, and soon, the depths. It will return to the earth as it was meant to, an ode to a pirate who both loved and feared the sea as fiercely as he loved and feared for his sister.


End file.
